Deodorant



Patented Feb. 2, 1943 DEODORANT Charles E. Loetel, Kansas City, Kans., assignor to Anderson-Stolz' Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri No Drawing; Application September 1, 1939,

- Serial No. 293,038

(on. lea-17) 8 Claims.

This invention relates to deodorants, and with regard to certain more specific features, to deodorants for both human and industrial uses.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a liquid deodorant which effectively suppresses all classes of offensive and unwanted odors, without substituting for such odors the odor of the deodorant itself; the provision of a liquid deodorant of the class described which is chemically stable, and undergoes substantially no deterioration over prolonged periods of time; the provision of a deodorant of the class described which is colorless and non-staining; the provision of a deodorant of the class described which is relatively non-volatile and which is noninflammable; the provision of a deodorant of the class described which is non-injurious to fabrics, surgical instruments, rubber goods, and the like, with which it is likely to come into contact; the provision of a deodorant also having a strong antiseptic character; and the provision of a deodorant of the class described which is relatively simple and economical to make. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter,

The invention accordingly comprises the ingredients and combinations of ingredients, the proportions thereof, and features of composition, which will be exemplified in the products hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

Many deodorants heretofore made and sold have operated upon the basis of substitution; that is, the odor of the deodorant, presumably pleasant, is substituted for, or becomes a mask for, the offensive odor it is desired to remove. Such deodorants, however, have only limited utility, because sooner or later the odor of the deodorant itself, even if not originally so, becomes offensive. One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a deodonant which has no odor itself, but which is still capable of effectively destroying the odor of the things to which it is applied.

The present invention is based upon a quite unexpected discovery that the complex salt ptassium mercuric iodide (usually written, in formula as KzHgh, KHgIs, or sometimes as HEIaKI) heretofore used as an antiseptic, has, when properly prepared as hereinafter directed, a most surprising deodorizing property.

However, potassium mercuric iodide in its normally solid condition is too strong, and is otherwise disadvantageous to use directly as a deodorant. Its strength, for example, makes it injurious when applied directly to the human skin. Nor is a simple aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide as useful as may be desired for deodorant purposes, because this substance has the unfortunate property of readily deteriorating in simple aqueous solution. For example, a simple aqueous solution, in a relatively short length of time, becomes cloudy with precipitated material and loses at least part of its deodorizing effectiveness.

A second unexpected discovery on which the present invention is founded is that aqueous solutions of potassium mercuric iodide may be stabilized against deterioration, and furthermore have their deodorizing properties enhanced, by adding to the solution a small quantity of a caustic alkali, such as sodium or potassium hydroxide. In its broadest aspects, therefore, the deodorant of the present invention comprises an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide, stabilized with a caustic alkali such as sodium or potassium hydroxide. From the practical standpoint, sodium hydroxide is usually preferable to potassium hydroxide, because of its lower cost, but both caustic alkalis appear to be substantially equally eilective.

It has been further found that the stability of the resultant solution is improved if distilled water is used as the solvent medium; but tap water may frequently likewise be used with success, particularly if the resulting solution be well filtered.

The caustic alkali present in the resultant deodorant solution appears to improve the deodorizing qualities in at least two respects. First, the caustic alkali itself probably aids in deodorizing by combining chemically with odorproducing acids, such as the acid constituents -of onions, and the butyric acid constituent of rancidiiying fats and the like. Second, particularly when the deodorant is used in contact with human tissues or organs, the caustic alkali apparently has a penetrating effect upon-the tissues, much more so than ordinary water, and in so penetrating the tissue it appears to carry with it small amounts of the potassium mercuric iodide dissolved therewith, thereby to improve the speed and range of deodorizing activity.

In addition to having deodorant properties of a magnitude never heretofore realized, the solution of the present invention also has strong antiseptic properties, probably because of the antiseptic character of the potassium mercuric iodide therein. The caustic alkali used to stabilize the deodorant solution, apparently, far from inhibiting this antiseptic characteristic, probably actually enhances it.

The proportions of potassium mercuric iodide and caustic alkali in the solution are capable of wide variation, depending upon the particular use to which the solution is to be put. In general, the alkali should be present in slightly greater weight per cent. than the potassium mercuric iodide in the solution, although this proportion does not appear to be critical. A very concentrated solution may be made for industrial usage, or for subsequent dilution for human or animal usage. We find it convenient, as a matter of manufacturing procedure, to make up a concentrated solution containing about 14% of potassium mercuric iodide and about 18% of sodium hydroxide, as a stock solution. This may be diluted with seven portions, by weight, of water in order to form a commercially salable human deodorant solution for bottling and the bottled solution thus prepared may further be diluted with, say, four to sixty-four parts by weight of water for ultimate use in contact with human flesh, depending upon the particular location at which the deodorant is to be used.

As a non-limiting example of the concentration in which we make up the concentrated solution, the following is given:

A solution in one liter of distilled water is first made with 0.576 pound of mercuric iodide and 1.039 pounds of potassium iodide. Another solution of about two pounds of sodium hydroxide in two liters of distilled water is then made up. The sodium hydroxide solution is then added slowly to the potassium mercuric iodide solution, with constant stirring, the entire addition consuming about fifteen minutes. Enough water is then added to the resultant mixed solution to bring the total volume up to one gallon.

The concentrated solution so manufactured has a composition substantially as follows:

Per cent by weight Mercuric iodide 5.05 Potassium iodide 9.10 Sodium hydroxide 17.55 Water 68.3

For bottling, this gallon of concentrated solution is diluted with six or seven gallons of water, preferably distilled water. The bottled solution, as heretofore stated, may then, at the time of use, be diluted with from four to sixty-four parts of water, depending upon the particular use.

The resultant solution, upon test, has been found to be phenomenally efficient in either eliminating entirely, or in substantially suppressing, odors connected with the following situations:

1. Disinfection of hands, dishes, and excreta.

2. Care of linens and bedding.

3. Odorous suppurations, such as from carcinoma, gangrene, osteomyelitis, etc.

4. Odors from vaginal discharge.

5. Odors in hospital rooms, wards, clinic, operating rooms and the like.

6. Odors emanating from lung abscesses, and odors found in laryngotomy, etc.

7. General body odors.

8. Admittance baths in hospitals and the like.

9. Babies diapers.

10. Bedpans and male service urinals.

11. Bed hygiene.

12. Dressing and sputum cups.

13. Care of deceased patients.

14. Care of sick rooms after discharge of patients.

15. Deodorization of garbage, dressing and refuse cans, walls, woodwork, windows, rugs, floors, etc.

16. Kitchen odors.

17. Deodorization of lavatories, linen rooms, locker rooms, and utility rooms.

18. Deodorization of ambulance and mortuary vehicles, autopsy rooms and mortuaries, and animal rooms.

19. Deodorization of drainage bottles in urological cases.

The deodorizing properties of the solution of the present invention may be readily demonstrated by the following tests:

1. Freshly cut onion is rubbed on the arm. A four-to-one dilution of the above bottled-strength deodorant is applied with a cotton swab and allowed to stand one minute. The odor of the onion is completely removed.

2. A filter from a smokers pipe having a strong odor is placed in a test tube and covered with deodorant solution, in the above-mentioned 'bottled strength. The deodorant solution turns brown due to-the dissolving therein of the nicotine in the filter. Upon removal of the filter and washing it in tap water, all odor is found to be removed.

3. cubic centimeters of very sour gas oil is shaken with five cubic centimeters of the bottledstrength deodorant solution. The deodorant completely deodorizes the sour gas oil.

4. A water solution of gelatin is allowed to stand open to the air for approximately two weeks. The putrified solution develops a very strong odor. Upon spraying a bit of the sample with the deodorant, in bottled strength, the odor is entirely eliminated.

5. A small quantity of carbon disulphide, placed in a bottle and sprayed with the deodorant solution of the present invention, loses entirely its offensive odor.

Tests have shown that the deodorant solution heretofore mentioned, in bottled strength, is an effective bactericide for B. 0012 communis in ten minutes used in dilutions up to one part deodorant in seven hundred parts of water; for Streptococcus gamma in ten minutes in the undiluted bottled-strength solution; and for hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus in ten minutes in dilutions up to one part of the bottled-strength deodorants in one hundred parts of water. Furthermore, a phenol coeflicience test, conducted according to the approved methods of the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, shows that the above deodorant, in bottled strength, has a phenol coeflicient of 28.9 against Ebthcrella typhi.

The deodorant solution apparently also is active on microorganisms other than bacteria. For example, tests have shown that it effectively kills rodifera and protozoa, and the fungi associated with the disease known as athletes foot.

It is further to be noted that the deodorant solution of the present invention appears, in proper dilution, to be completely without harmful effect on human skin or tissues. In certain carcinomatic conditions, for example, weak dilutions of the deodorant of the present invention have been dripped on open wounds for as long as twenty-four hours, without any irritating or harmful eflect, and, in a few instances, appearing in fact to promote healing.

2. A deodorant comprising an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide stabilized with sodium hydroxide.

3. A deodorant comprising an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide stabilized with potassium hydroxide.

4. A deodorant solution in concentrated form, adapted for aqueous dilution before use, consisting of the following ingredients in approximately the stated proportions by weight:

Per cent Potassium. iodide 9.10 Mercuric iodide 5.05 Sodium hydr 17.55 Water 68.30

5. The method of deodorizing an odorous material which comprises treating said material with an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide.

6. The method of deodorizing an odorous material which comprises treating said material with an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide and a caustic alkali.

7. The method of deodorizing an odorous material which comprises treating said material with an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide stabilized with sodium hydroxide.

8. The method oi deodorizing an odorous material which comprises treating said material with an aqueous solution of potassium mercuric iodide 20 stabilized with potassium hydroxide.

CHARLES E. LOETEL. 

